Chennai Open 2026 — November 3 | Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi and Vaishnavi Adkar give India two players in the second round.
Twelve months ago, Vaishnavi Adkar and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi both lost their opening singles matches at the Chennai Open. This time, neither was willing to leave quite so quickly.
Vaishnavi Adkar, now India’s highest-ranked singles player, recovered from 3-5 down in the deciding set to defeat Britain’s Jodie Burrage. Hours later, 17-year-old Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi produced an even bigger surprise, eliminating eighth seed Katarzyna Kawa in a final-set tiebreak.
Two Indian women have reached the round of 16 at the Chennai Open 2026, both entering the WTA 250 tournament as wildcards.
It is the second consecutive edition in which India has had two representatives in the last 16. And for Adkar and Maaya, who experienced disappointment at this very tournament last year, the victories offer tangible evidence of how far they have progressed.
Neither win came easily.
Vaishnavi Adkar: India’s New No. 1 Refuses to Lose
For much of her encounter with Jodie Burrage, Vaishnavi Adkar looked destined for another early exit.
The 21-year-old from Pune lost the opening set 3-6, responded by taking the second 6-3 and then found herself trailing 3-5 in the decider.
Burrage, a former world No. 85 returning through a protected ranking, was two games away from victory.
But Adkar refused to disappear.
She broke back, held to level at 5-5 and then broke Burrage again before serving out the match to love.
A 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory gave Adkar the first WTA Tour main-draw singles win of her career.
The result was particularly satisfying considering what happened in Chennai last year. Adkar had entered the 2025 main draw as a lucky loser but was beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic.
Much has changed since then.
Ranked world No. 344 this week, Adkar has climbed from outside the top 600 to become India’s leading women’s singles player.
She moved from Pune to Bengaluru to train at the Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy, a decision that has coincided with substantial improvements in her results.
In February, she reached the final of the ITF W100 tournament in Bengaluru, the best singles performance by an Indian woman at that level since Sania Mirza 17 years earlier.
She subsequently won an ITF W35 title in Kalaburagi and reached another W35 final in Monastir.
Speaking to The New Indian Express after beating Burrage, Adkar explained how she had learned to be more patient during rallies rather than attempting to finish points too quickly.
That adjustment was evident during her comeback. She kept making Burrage play another ball, forcing the Briton to sustain her aggression when the match was becoming increasingly difficult to close out.
Rohan Bopanna was also courtside, encouraging the player who now leads India’s singles rankings.
Adkar’s next challenge will be considerably different: seventh seed Anastasia Zakharova, who defeated Polina Iatcenko in the opening round.
Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi: A 17-Year-Old Takes Down the Eighth Seed
If Adkar’s victory demonstrated her growing maturity, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi’s performance provided another glimpse of India’s emerging generation.
The teenager from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, entered Chennai ranked world No. 669.
Her opponent, Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa, was the tournament’s eighth seed and ranked No. 115.
The difference in experience and rankings was considerable. Maaya, however, did not allow it to dictate the result.
She took the opening set 6-4 before Kawa recovered strongly to win the second 6-2.
The decider became an increasingly tense contest, with neither player able to establish the advantage needed to finish the match.
Eventually, everything came down to a tiebreak.
Maaya held her nerve to win it 7-5, completing a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) victory and eliminating one of the tournament’s seeded players.
For those unfamiliar with her name, Maaya has already assembled an intriguing résumé.
She trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain, and has competed extensively on the international junior circuit.
At just 15, she reached the semifinals of the 2025 Mumbai Open, a WTA 125 tournament, after coming through qualifying.
More recently, in October 2026, she won the first professional singles title of her career at the ITF W35 tournament in Lagos, Nigeria.
She also captured the doubles title at the same event.
According to the International Tennis Federation, Maaya became the youngest Indian player on record to win a women’s ITF World Tennis Tour singles title at W35 level or higher.
That achievement offered an encouraging indication of her development. Beating Kawa in Chennai provides something different: a victory over an established WTA player, ranked more than 500 places above her.
Maaya will now face another Polish opponent, qualifier Weronika Falkowska, who defeated Linda Fruhvirtova 7-6(3), 6-4.
Two Indians in the Last 16: How Unusual Is It?
There is an important historical distinction to make.
This is not the first time two Indian women have reached the second round of the Chennai Open.
It happened last year, when Sahaja Yamalapalli and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty both won their opening matches.
Yamalapalli defeated Indonesian lucky loser Priska Nugroho, while Bhamidipaty overcame Maaya in an all-Indian encounter.
The achievement was particularly significant because only one Indian woman, Karman Kaur Thandi, had reached the second round of the inaugural Chennai Open in 2022.
| Chennai Open | Indian Players Reaching Last 16 |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Karman Kaur Thandi |
| 2025 | Sahaja Yamalapalli, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty |
| 2026 | Vaishnavi Adkar, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi |
There is a notable difference this year.
Unlike 2025, when one of the Indian victories came at the expense of another Indian wildcard, both 2026 qualifiers for the last 16 defeated overseas opponents.
Maaya also eliminated a seeded player, something that adds considerably to the sporting significance of the result.
The fact that both players returned to Chennai after losing their opening matches last year makes the achievement more compelling.
For Indian women’s tennis, where opportunities to compete regularly at WTA Tour level remain limited, having a home tournament is valuable.
Travel expenses, access to tournaments and the difficulty of gaining experience against higher-ranked opposition can all slow the development of players outside the world’s top 100.
A WTA 250 tournament in India removes some of those obstacles, at least for one week.
And this time, two of the wildcard recipients have made their invitations count.
Sahaja Yamalapalli Falls, Leaving Two Indians in Contention
Not every Indian wildcard enjoyed the same success.
Sahaja Yamalapalli, one of last year’s second-round qualifiers, lost her opening match to Switzerland’s Simona Waltert.
The 26-year-old Indian, ranked No. 423, fought back after losing the opening set but eventually fell 4-6, 6-3, 3-6.
It was a disappointing result for a player who had enjoyed an encouraging run at the same tournament twelve months earlier.
Three Indian players had received singles main-draw wildcards: Adkar, Maaya and Yamalapalli. Former US Open junior champion Katherine Hui of the United States received the fourth.
With Yamalapalli out, Adkar and Maaya remain India’s two representatives in the singles competition.
The Next Round Will Tell Us More
There is no guarantee that either Indian player will progress further.
Adkar faces an established opponent in seventh seed Zakharova, while Maaya must back up her victory over Kawa against Falkowska.
For Adkar, Chennai is another test of whether her improvement on the ITF circuit can translate into regular victories at WTA level.
For Maaya, still only 17, it is an opportunity to build on an already promising junior and professional career.
Neither player needs to reach the final for this tournament to represent progress.
A year ago, both left Chennai after one singles match.
Today, they have earned the opportunity to play another, against international opponents, with the home crowd behind them.
India will have two women to cheer for in the Chennai Open last 16. What matters now is how far they can take that opportunity.